Family Reunion
by boop-oop-ee-doo
Summary: Sophie has a dream about her grandmother, so Tara decides it's time to visit her mother's grave, bringing the other Scoobs and the Fang gang along for the ride. But what happens when they come into contact with Tara's family, who still believe she's dead?
1. Mama Says Hi

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

AN: This story takes place about two months after 'Dawn's Magical Mishaps', so Tara is five months pregnant. There will be at least three chapters, maybe more.

* * *

It was late at night in the Scooby household, and as Willow Rosenberg shifted in an attempt at snuggling closer to her pregnant wife, a wave of panic washed over as she realised Tara was absent. Her panic subsided when it occurred to her that Tara had most likely just gone across the hall to comfort Sophie after a nightmare. Still, in this house it was always best to check. Willow threw the covers back and swung her feet out of the bed, pausing for a second to smile at the photos displayed on her bedside table. There was the picture of Tara and herself that Sophie had stolen when she ran away to protect her then 'bestest friend' Willow from the demons who'd raised her for her first three years. Then, there was a picture of the three of them on a picnic they'd gone on a few weeks after Tara's resurrection. It was one of their first family outings, and Willow treasured the memory. Finally, propped up against the edge of the picnic photo, was the first ultrasound picture of Willow and Tara's unborn baby daughter Lily, taken two months ago. Sophie had given them the name after revealing that she had met her little sister during the scooby's recent time travel adventure. The picture was slightly crumpled due to having been shoved in Willow's pocket during said adventure, though this had thankfully not affected the image. Looking at the photos calmed Willow further, and she left the room smiling as she went to check on her wife and daughter.

However, the smile quickly turned to a frown when she heard whimpers coming from her little girl's room. She knew instantly that the sounds were coming from her wife, as she had become accustomed to Tara's whimpers during the period in which she had been temporarily driven insane by Glory, as well as the the few weeks afterwards when it had still been necessary to regularly re-bandage her then-girlfriend's crushed hand. Willow peeked into the bedroom, seeing that Tara had fallen asleep beside Sophie, then crept closer to the bed, attempting to wake Tara without disturbing Sophie, who was sleeping peacefully.

"Tara" she whispered, gently shaking her wife's shoulder. "Tara, wake up baby, you're having a nightmare."

"I'm s-sorry Daddy, I d-didn't mean it.."

"Tara!" Willow raised her voice a little, shaking her lover harder. "Tara, wake up!" This time Tara began to stir. She sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Willow? What.. oh" Tara paused as realisation came to her. "I had another nightmare, didn't I?"

"Uh-huh" Willow nodded.

" That's two in one night. But at least it doesn't look like its got to Sophie this time" Tara sighed, glancing at her sleeping daughter before laying a hand on her now obvious baby bump. "This one seems to know that something's wrong though, she's kicking up a storm in there."

"Aww, Lily" Willow kneeled down in front of Tara's stomach, kissing it. "Don't worry, Mommy Willow made Mama Tara's big mean old nightmare go away."

"For now" Tara sighed again. At this moment, Sophie began to stir.

"Mommy Willow, Mama Tara?" she said sleepily, sounding a little confused as she sat up. "Is it morning yet?"

"No" Tara smiled.

"Is there demons attacking?"

"No" Willow replied with a small chuckle. "Mama Tara just had another nightmare, sweetie. Go back to sleep."

"Okay" Sophie yawned, snuggling down into her blankets. "Mama Tara?"

"Yeah sweetie?" Tara stroked her daughter's hair as she began to drift off.

"Your Mama says hi."


	2. Did Somebody Say Roadtrip?

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

AN: Hey guys, OathkeeperRoxasXNamine09 has written a Charmed/Buffy X-over titled 'Wyatt's Lone Mission' that is set in the universe I have created here, though with some slight alterations. You should all check it out.

* * *

Willow's eyes widened as she stared at her daughter.

"Um, did she just say what I think she just said?"

"Yeah" Tara nodded, a small lump forming in her throat.

"Should we wake her up?" Willow asked. Tara shook her head.

"No, let her sleep. I can talk to her about it in the morning."

--

The next morning, Tara was the first scooby awake. This was due to a combination of the fact that she never slept well after a nightmare, and Lily apparently realising that a direct kick to the bladder was a sure-fire way of getting her mother's attention. Not that Tara really minded, her baby girl beginning to kick a few weeks ago only served to make her pregnancy feel all the more real. She crept downstairs to make herself a cup of coffee, being careful not to wake either the house's permanent occupants or visiting ones, including Giles, Andrew, and the Fang gang. They had all come for the surprise birthday party that Buffy had held for Faith a few days ago. Tara then headed back upstairs, slipping into the room that would be Lily's nursery when she was born in four months time. The walls were painted powder-pink, and they had already purchased a changing table which sat on one side of the room, a rocking chair in anticipation of late night feeds, and a crib which Angel had helped them assemble after a very stubborn Xander, who had been called in to help first, was finally forced to admit that he had absolutely no idea what he was doing. In the last few weeks, Tara had also started painting cute little pictures on the walls, many of them based on Sophie's toys. The latest of these paintings had been inspired by Tara Bear, and was almost finished. Tara slipped on an old T-shirt, set up her paints, and got to work. The pictures, which so far included Sophie's Cordy doll, Fred mouse, as well as the matching Wesley mouse, Kendra kitten and Anya doll that had magically appeared at the foot of Sophie's bed on her fourth birthday, ran along one wall. The other walls were still bare, which left Tara with a slight problem as she had no idea what to paint on them. _"Maybe I should buy Sophie some more toys" _she thought.

"Mama Tara?" Tara turned around to see her daughter standing in the doorway, still dressed in her Little Mermaid pyjamas from the night before.

"Morning, sweetie." She frowned at the serious look on the little girl's face. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I just wanna talk to you abouts the stuff I said about your Mama."

"Okay" Tara sat down in the rocking chair, gesturing for Sophie to climb into her lap. "Talk away."

"Well, she was the reason your nightmare didn't scares me as much, because I wasn't there for all of it."

"What do you mean 'there'?" asked Tara, confused.

"I was in the closet" Sophie explained. "I'm always in the closet in that nightmare." For Tara, this piece of information explained a lot. She had always felt as though she was protecting someone in that particular nightmare, though she had never been able to remember who. "Then your Mama came and taked me away from the nightmare and made everything pretty, just like you did the time you needed me to saves Mommy Willow from the demons" Sophie continued. "And then we talked for awhile, and she tolds me to say hi to you for her. And she tolds me to tell you that you don't gots to be afraid of your daddy no more." She slid off her mother's lap and headed for the door, then paused, turning around. "I'm nots so so sure abouts that part though, your daddy still seems pretty scary to me."

--

"You want to go visit your mother's grave?" asked Willow looking on while Tara packed bags for the impromptu trip. "Are you sure? What if we run into your dad, or Donny?"

"I have as much right to be there as they do, probably more."

"I know that Tara, but they think you're dead" Willow pointed out. "And even if they didn't.."

"They can't do anything to me Will, I'm not a helpless little girl anymore." Though as she said this, Tara knew that she sounded way more confident than she felt. "And anyway, you'll be with me. Perfectly safe."

"Okay then" said Willow, still not entirely sure that this was a good idea. "I guess we're going on a roadtrip."

"Did somebody say roadtrip?" the two wiccas turned to see Faith in the doorway, grinning. "'Cause I am so in."


	3. Fathers Are Overrated

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

AN: I don't know if there's actually an RV in existence that could comfortably fit this many people in it. If there's not, just humour me for the sake of the story.

* * *

When Tara revealed to Buffy, Dawn, Connor, and their house guests what she, Willow, and Sophie were planning to do, they, like Faith, decided to come along. Giles and Andrew had nothing particularly pressing to do back at the council, and didn't mind extending their break, as the growing number of slayers in training were getting to be quite a handful. Angel decided that it wouldn't hurt for he, Spike, and Illyria to be on the road for a few days, as it would keep the Senior Partners off their backs. If everyone else was coming they couldn't leave poor Xander out, so Willow gave him a call and he jumped on the roadtrip bandwagon too.

They left early the next morning. Buffy had hired an RV with enough room for all of them, as well as sun-safe windows for Spike and Angel. Giles had taken the first turn at driving, while Xander helped him navigate. Willow had snuggled up with her head resting against Tara's stomach so she could talk to Lily, Buffy was whittling stakes, Illyria was inspecting Sophie's toys as the little girl told her their names, Andrew was in a Doctor Who chat-room on his laptop, Dawn and Connor were making out, Angel was reading a biography on Barry Manilow, and Spike was flicking his lighter. Faith stared at her companions, mouth agape.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" she yelled. The RV's other occupants, excluding Giles who was concentrating on the road, stared at the Dark slayer, confused. "We are on a roadtrip, people! You know, the thrill of the open road, havin' adventures, crazy stories to tell ya pals back home?"

"What pals back home?" asked Dawn, pulling away from Connor for a second. "Pretty much everyone any of us ever talks to is here."

"Besides" Buffy added, "We can't get too crazy with a pregnant woman and a four-year old around."

"Crazy adventures don't have to be dangerous!" Faith continued, desperate to get her point across. She turned to Willow. "Red, remember when we were drivin' back to SunnyD after you re-souled Angel and that raccoon got into our hotel room and stole your wallet?" Buffy, Tara, and Xander raised their eyebrows, none of them having heard this story.

"Yeah" said Willow, a small smile spreading across her face. "That was kinda fun, even if we did have to chase it around for three hours."

"I guess slayer number two does kind of have a point" said Spike. "We could at least put some music on. Proper music though, none of that bloody Top 50 flavour-of-the moment crap."

"Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about!" Faith pumped her fist in the air before digging around in her backpack and pulling out a mix CD, then poking her head into the driver's compartment and handing it to Giles. "Pump it, G-man!" Giles smiled slightly, doing exactly as Faith had instructed. It may have seemed surprising to some, but the two actually had very similar tastes in music.

--

Late that night, Tara woke suddenly, releasing herself from yet another nightmare. She glanced at Sophie snuggled between herself and Willow, still sleeping peacefully. She couldn't help but wonder if the little girl's grandmother was protecting her again. Nearly everyone else was asleep too, sprawled in various positions around the RV. Illyria was clutching Sophie's Wesley mouse. Angel and Spike had offered to drive through the night so they could reach their destination faster, and Tara could hear them bickering over where the next turn off was. Faith was the only other Scooby awake, flipping through Angel's book while Buffy slept against her shoulder.

"Hey, Blondie" she said looking up, concerned. ""Nother nightmare?" Faith had softened considerably since her relationship with Buffy had begun, and even more so since the recent time travel escapade, especially where Tara was concerned, for reasons that only the two of them fully understood.

"Yeah" Tara sighed.

"Your dad again?"

"Yeah. I hate that he can still get to me so much after all the other stuff I've been through."

"Well, the way I see it, fathers are kinda overrated" Faith began. "I never knew mine, and it seems like everyone else's are assholes. B's abandoned her, Xander's is a lousy drunk, and yours.. well, I don't even wanna start on how much I wanna beat the crap out of that guy. But here's the thing, T" The Dark slayer paused to emphasise her words. "He put you through some of the worst shit a parent can ever do to their kid, and to turn out as well as ya did after that.. well, that's amazin' Tara. You're a million times the person he is or ever will be." Tara just stared at her friend, dumbstruck.

"Um.. thank you Faith" she said eventually. Faith swallowed, feeling a little awkward before shrugging and returning to her book.

"Just callin' it as I see it, Blondie."


	4. Uhoh

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

In the early afternoon two days later, the RV carrying the Scoobies and their friends arrived in Tara's hometown. Tara stared out the window as they drove around town, heading for the small motel that they had booked rooms in.

"This does bring back a lot of memories."

"Bad ones?" Willow asked. Tara shook her head.

"Not all of them." A familiar lopsided smile spread over Tara's face, and she pointed at a small ice-cream parlour. "My Mom always used to take me there when Dad and Donny weren't around. We should take Sophie while we're here." She turned to look at the little girl, who was brushing Cordy's hair. "Would you like that kiddo?"

"Uh-huh" Sophie replied, nodding furiously. "Grandma telled me that place has the bestest ice-cream in the world!" Before either Tara or Willow had a chance to respond to this, Xander, who was driving, called out from the front seat.

"We're here!"

--

After a little while spent gathering up their bags and some minor arguments over who was bunking with who, such as _"I'm twenty years old Buffy, I'm sharing a room with my boyfriend!" _and _"No way in hell am I sleeping in the same room as Deadboy!"_, everybody was checked into their rooms. Buffy finally gave in and let Dawn room with Connor, and Xander agreed to share a room with Andrew, while Giles roomed with Angel.

"So, when are you guys thinkin' of headin' off?" Faith asked Tara while she and Buffy sat in the 2-bed family sized room being shared by Willow, Tara, and Sophie. Tara knew that Faith was talking about when they were going to visit her mother's grave.

"Well, Sophie's pretty worn out after such a big trip" she replied, gesturing to her daughter. The little girl was half-asleep, eyes drooping as she leaned against Willow, one arm wrapped tightly around Tara Bear, her favourite bedtime buddy. "We'll probably go tomorrow morning."

"Sounds like a plan" Willow agreed, nodding, as she carried Sophie over to the children's bed on the other side of the room. Faith nodded too, then leaned over to grab the phone and menu from the bedside table, grinning.

"So, who wants to go all-out on room service with the Watcher's Council credit card?"

--

The next morning as planned, Willow, Tara, and Sophie headed off to the cemetery where Tara's mother was buried, stopping to buy flowers on the way. Tara wasn't surprised when Sophie took the lead.

"Its this way, isn't it Mama Tara?" the little girl smiled, tugging on both her mother's hands as the three of them walked through the cemetery. "Grandma telled me where it was." Tara nodded, letting her daughter lead her on a path she still knew by heart, and soon enough, they had reached her mother's grave, all three of them kneeling in front of it.

"Hi Mom" Tara whispered, feeling tears begin to prick at the corners of her eyes.

"Hi Grandma" said Sophie, just as quietly. Baby Lily kicked at that moment, as if to say her own hello. Willow wasn't really sure what to say, so she just leaned over and kissed her wife's cheek, tasting the slight saltiness of her tears.

"You okay baby?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Tara laid the flowers on the grass, then reached out to pull some of the weeds that had began to push up around the tombstone, suddenly hearing a familiar voice behind her.

"Tara?"

The Wicca turned around, and froze. It was Donny.


	5. A Bad, Bad, Man

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

If any other member of her family had turned up, Tara would have known exactly how to handle it. If it had been her father, she probably would have run. If Beth turned up and tried to have a bitch, Tara no longer had any qualms about bitching right back. But Donny was a tough one. She had never been able to bring herself to hate him as much as the others. Their father was, in her opinion, evil, and Beth was just a bitch, plain and simple. But Donny was who he was because of what their father made him, so in some ways, Tara thought that he was a victim almost as much as she was. Donny didn't seem to be handling the situation any better, all the colour draining from his face. This was probably due to the fact that until a few moments ago, he had thought his sister was dead, yet here she was, alive, well, and quite obviously pregnant. Forcing his feet to move, Donny turned and ran. Willow, who had fully prepared herself for the possibility of this type of scenario, leapt to her feet, speeding after him and catching hold of his arm.

"If you care about your sister at all" she growled, flashing a pair of magic blackened eyes as she let a little of her dark self out, "You will not tell anybody that you've seen her, especially not your sorry excuse for a father. Do you understand me?" When Donny did not respond, Willow tightened her grip, and the roots of her hair darkened slightly. "Do you?!"

"Yeah, don't tell anyone, got it" Donny replied, shaking. Willow let him go, but glared at her wife's brother as he fled, her eyes still dark. Sophie, once again acting very mature and responsible for a four year old, decided it was time to intervene, as Tara, still a little paralysed with shock, wasn't able to.

"Mommy Willow!" she called. The sound of her daughter's voice brought Willow back to earth, her eyes returning to their regular emerald green as she walked back over to her family and knelt beside Tara, wrapping a comforting arm around her wife's shoulders.

"Don't worry baby" she said, kissing Tara's cheek. "He'll keep his mouth shut, if he knows what's good for him." Tara forced a smile for Willow's benefit, but then glanced at Sophie, who looked as worried as she felt, both of them seeming to know that their problem would not be solved that easily. Donny had never been one for knowing what was good for him.

--

The two wiccas and their daughter returned a little while later to discover that Faith had instigated a party in their motel room, going all out on room service for the second day running. If Giles had known how all this was being paid for he may have been slightly less enthusiastic about it, but as Faith had made up a story about winning a small jackpot in the lottery, the Watcher was blissfully unaware. Sure, he'd find out when the bill arrived at the Watcher's council in a few weeks, but that was a problem for another day. After awhile, Tara began to relax and join in on the fun with her friends. Maybe she was worrying over nothing, maybe Donny would keep his mouth shut about seeing her. And Sophie didn't seem quite as worried now either. She had joined Illyria in taking another Snoopy dance lesson from Xander that the God-King had asked for, still unaware of Spike's lie about learning the dance being a human rite of passage. A little later, the group heard a knock on the motel room's door, and Sophie ran open to answer it. As soon as she opened the door, the little girl panicked and backed away as her grandfather stared down at her, quickly ducking behind Willow's leg. Beth and Donny were with him. The Scoobies froze, falling silent as they faced the new arrivals, except Illyria, who halted her Snoopy dance practice, looking slightly confused.

"Who are you?" the god-king asked.

"I" said Mr Maclay, pointing to Tara, "am this girl's father, and I would very much like to know why she has lead her family to believe that she's been dead for the past five years."

"I w-was dead" Tara stuttered. Lily, seeming to feel her mother's stress, began kicking like crazy in her womb.

"You really expect me to believe that?" said Mr Maclay coldly. He gestured to Sophie. "Your girl there must be at least three. What excuse do you have for keeping her from me Tara?" Tara had a million reasons for keeping Sophie away from her grandfather, but the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat kept any words from coming out. "Answer me, girl" As Mr Maclay reached out to touch Tara's arm, both Willow and Faith moved to protect her, but Sophie got there first.

"No!" the little girl cried out, leaping between her mother and grandfather. In that moment, Tara's daughter had never seemed so small to her. She really was quite small for a four year old, it was easy to see why her grandfather had picked her at three. "You can't touch my Mama Tara!" Mr Maclay glared at Sophie, clearly unimpressed by what he saw as an act of disrespect.

"Move girl, this is a conversation between adults." Sophie didn't budge, so her grandfather moved to push her out of the way, but was angered to find that he couldn't. Some type of magical force-field had sprung up between the Scoobies and the Maclays. Tara turned to Willow, but her wife was as surprised by the the new development as she was. Upon closer inspection, it was obvious that the magic was coming from Sophie. Her hands were clenched into tiny fists, and she was concentrating hard.

"You're a bad, bad, man!" Sophie yelled. "You hurted Mama Tara, and you hurted Grandma! We don't wants you here, go away!"

"Yeah, you tell 'im Little Red!" cried Faith, proud of her niece. Tara, however, noticed that her little girl was becoming exhausted from her efforts at keeping the force-field up, and stepped forward, closing her hand around her daughter's smaller one. Sophie's courage was helping Tara feel braver herself.

"She's like you, then" said Mr Maclay, staring at them coldly.

"Don't see why that surprises you" said Tara. "Every woman in our family right?" Beth's lips curled into a cruel smile.

"Looks like the rotten apple hasn't fallen far from the tree." Suddenly, all of Beth's hair disappeared, causing her to scream. Tara looked at Sophie, but Willow smirked, grasping her daughter's free hand.

"That one was me" she grinned. Tara grinned back, before turning to her 'family'.

"It's probably best that you all leave now. You haven't been my family for a long time. My family is right here." She gestured around at her friends. "I have a beautiful wife and a daughter I adore, with another on the way. I have amazing people that I can call my brothers and sisters, and a wonderful man who is more of a father to me than you will ever be. I am Tara Rosenberg. Now get out of my life."


	6. The Best Sister Anyone Could Ask For

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie :)

* * *

With their joined hands linking their magic, Tara felt Sophie let the forcefield down, but this didn't bother her. She wasn't afraid anymore. Although the fact that none of her former family members had moved was slightly worrying. The look of hatred and disgust spreading over Mr Maclay's face was even more worrying. The sight of Beth sobbing into her hands as she lamented the loss of her hair.. well, that was not so much worrying as hilariously funny. No, the most worrying thing was that Mr Maclay was angrily stepping towards his daughter, arm slightly raised. Before Tara had time to register this information and move, Faith's fist flew, and a sickening crunch was heard as Mr Maclay was sent sprawling to the ground, his nose shattered.

"She said get out, and if I were you, I'd be listenin'" the Dark slayer growled. In that moment, it was easy for Tara to see why the other Scoobies may have once been scared of Faith. But, since her father was currently on the floor clutching his broken, bloodied nose, she wasn't complaining. Unfortunately, it seemed as though Mr Maclay was one of those people who just didn't know when to quit. He glared at Faith, but everyone struggled not to laugh at his slightly nasally tone when he spoke.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?"

"I'm one of Tara's amazin' sisters" Faith replied. "Now get, because I'm not one for killin' people anymore, but I swear I could make an exception for you."

"I'd probably help" added Willow, eyes darkening slightly.

"And I wouldn't do a thing to stop them" said Buffy, smirking.

"Nor would I" said Illyria. "It has been centuries since I have witnessed a good execution." Donny pulled his father to his feet, then grabbed the still sobbing Beth's arm and steered her towards the door.

"Come on, pops, we should probably just.."

"And you" Willow turned to Donny now, eyes black and roots dark. "I seem to remember telling you.."

"Leave him, Will" Tara cut in. Willow's roots returned to normal, but her eyes remained dark. "Willow, leave him" Tara repeated. Willow calmed down, and Donny visibly relaxed, turning to his sister. "Don't thank me, Donny, I didn't do that for you, I did it for Mom" Tara quickly added. "I'm a mother myself now, and I know how much you getting hurt would upset her. Now go, all of you, before I change my mind." Donny nodded, and quickly headed out the door pulling Beth with him. Mr Maclay glared at Tara one last time before following them. The Scoobies fell silent, but after a few minutes this silence was broken by Xander.

"Nice one, sister!" he cried, patting Tara on the back. "Um, I am one of the amazing brothers, right?"

"Of course you are" Tara smiled. "And Faith.." The Dark slayer took a few steps backwards as her friend turned to her.

"You know, I wasn't really thinkin' when I said all that sister stuff, it's okay if you didn't mean me."

"Faith, of course I meant you!" said Tara, giving her friend a warm hug, then lifted her hair to reveal the scar she had recieved two months before while protecting the young Faith from the shattering vodka bottle her mother had thrown at her. "We protect each other, and you were a bridesmaid at my wedding, and you were with me when I found out I was pregnant, and you held my hair back while I threw up in the toilet. Then there's the times when you've risked your life to protect my daughter. You are one of the best sisters anyone could ask for."

"Damn, T" Faith replied. "That's some of the nicest stuff anyone's ever said about me."

"Every bit of it's true" Tara smiled.

"Yeah, well I am pretty damn awesome" Faith grinned. "And speaking of awesome, let's get this party back on track, whaddaya say everyone?"

--

The next day, the whole Scooby family piled into the RV for the long trip home, although they did stop off at the Ice Cream parlour Tara had pointed out on their way into town, all grabbing an ice-cream cone to eat on the way. Illyria made a horrible mess of hers by biting into the bottom of the cone first, so Spike made a note to himself to show her how to eat one properly when they got home.

--

The night that they arrived back, Tara gathered her paints and crept into Lily's nursery, now knowing exactly what to paint on the empty walls. In the empty spaces, she began painting cartoon-like replicas of her family, everyone, from Willow right down to Illyria. She paused, rubbing her stomach.

"What do you think little one, is this good?" Tara smiled as the baby kicked in reply. "Yeah, I think so too."

* * *

AN: There's the last chapter of 'Family Reunion', hope you enjoyed it. Now I need a little help from you guys. In your reviews, please give me some suggestions for the name of Faith's puppy, who will make his first appearance in my next story.


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